¿Cómo aborda las discrepancias en los informes financieros que podrían afectar las decisiones de los inversores?

What happened to me often while building or just pulling managerial reports was that the source data was flawed. When you dig deeper, you realize the source data is off because the process in the source system is not good. In smaller organizations it's easy to change that, in bigger ones it's hard. I found that a combination of pressure, diplomacy, and executive support works well to adjust the process and eliminate reporting discrepancies in bigger companies 😅

Prompt Identification and Investigation: Robust internal controls: Implement strong systems to detect discrepancies early. Regular reconciliation: Compare data from different sources to identify inconsistencies. Thorough investigation: Once a discrepancy is identified, conduct a detailed investigation to determine the root cause. Precise Reporting and Revision: Fix the mistake: To address the disparity, make the required modifications to the financial records. Restate financial statements: To give investors accurate information if there is a significant error, restate earlier financial statements.

Pinpoint exactly where the error came from by combing through each of the major financial statements (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow). This could have been caused by something as small as a data entry error in an accounting system, but it's important to identify the root cause.

You must evaluate the materiality of an error by assessing its impact on key financial metrics and whether it alters the decision-making process of stakeholders. Consider both quantitative factors, like the percentage change in revenue or profit, and qualitative factors, such as the error's potential to influence investor perceptions or breach regulatory thresholds. An error is relevant if it significantly impacts financial statements, affects compliance, or could mislead stakeholders. Update materiality thresholds regularly to ensure they align with evolving business and market conditions.

You want to estimate the overall impact on the business using the financial statements as a proxy. Analyzing industry-specific profitability ratios (e.g. operational profitability) to see how they are impacted by the reporting discrepancies will tell you the scale of the issue you are dealing with. From here it's important to properly communicate this impact to leadership stakeholders, and not try to hide any of the negative impacts. Investors will appreciate the communicative transparency more than feeling like they were manipulated or lied to.

Correcting these issues involves regular data reconciliation processes of the financial statements, bank accounts, and internal financial records. This ensures that there are multiple checkpoints that any financial records must go through before making it to the public. Timely reconciliations make sure that these discrepancies don't impact investor relations.

Continue to monitor your FP&A processes to make sure any suspicious activity is immediately flagged. The standard operating procedures here should identify what reporting anomalies look like and recommended action to take if one is discovered. Having standard processes like this in place helps you build an internal culture of data accuracy and quality which ultimately leads to investor confidence.